Introduction: The number of people dying in Aged Residential Care (ARC) is set to increase over the coming years. Many residents dying have dementia or cognitive impairment. New Zealand research has identified dementia residents have the same, if not higher, symptom burden when dying.
Aims: To identify quantitative differences in the prescribing and administration of palliative medications in the last days of life in ARC, and to make comparisons between those with and without dementia. A secondary aim was to evaluate any differences by specific medication classes and clinical factors that influenced medication use.
Methods: This retrospective observational study analysed routinely collected clinical and medication data from residents who died in ARC (one provider with multiple sites across New Zealand) from 12th April 2023 to 11th April 2024.
Results: 1617 residents died during the 12-month period of whom 49% had dementia. Residents with dementia were administered significantly fewer doses of medications in the last 14 days of life (mean 11.0 doses compared with 18.0 doses in non-dementia group. p<0.001). The number of palliative medication classes prescribed were not significantly different between both groups.
Discussion: Despite previous research suggesting people with dementia have a similar symptom burden when dying to those without dementia, they were administered fewer medications than those without dementia. Ongoing research is required to further explore ways to support people dying with dementia and to understand barriers to prescribing and administration of medicines.